the grinch stole Sherlock's joy
by gormogon
Summary: 1st elementary fanfic..love Sherlock also..sherlock being grumpy and watson trying to help him as always..enjoy:-)
1. Chapter 1

**Ups and downs…mostly downs**

As testing as the run was for Watson she found herself apprehensive returning to the apartment she had known as home for a few months now…but it had little to do with the house and more to do with the resident inside.

'Holmes,Holmes are you up yet?'

She had been a little bit concerned about Sherlock lately since the NYPD were going through a routine HR check and they requested Holmes stay away for a while.

The way she understood it Captain Gregson was saving Holmes from scrutiny because of his past.

The way Sherlock saw it was that they didn't want him consulting anymore since his confession about his life on the white powder.

Now Watson's eyes were regularly assaulted by Sherlock moving around without a tee-shirt but as he appeared in front of her now she caught a glimpse of more than she wanted to.

'Watson ah..release some endorphins did you…quite right although that excess energy could be better spent doing other more enjoyable activities'

'hey running is enjoyable and Holmes…'

He stops and turns on his way to the kitchen area.

'yes'

'could you please put some pants on if you don't mind'

He looks at himself in surprise and replies

'oh I was wondering why you were blushing?!'

'I was not _(exasperated) _anyway can you not feel the cold?'

Watson knew what was coming before she realised what she had done,the way Sherlock set his feet together and stood like he was doing a Charlie Chaplin imitation with feet pointed outward,she braced herself for the speech.

'I have a core body temperature of 37.7 degrees,it's a genetic thing..needless to say I don't get cold so easily'

Superfluous speech over Watson had to retort with

'oh..so that explains the daily display of nakedness I am subjected to'

Sherlock shrugs his shoulder at this so Watson tries to connect with him on an intellectual level

'you know your revealing yourself both physically and emotionally to me suggests that you want to connect'

Instead he looks positively appalled

'oh nonsense Watson,the motive behind it is far simpler Im afraid…

At his he walked off knowing it only teased Watson and made her follow him into the kitchen area

'so what is the motive then?'

'I like to see the effect my well proportioned figure has on you'

Watson glared at Sherlock as he continued by routine making his acted as if she wasn't her further until he stopped and finding a spot on the counter top added

'I think you should go for your shower soon Watson,don't want you catching cold'

Triumph was her's on this round as she replied

'consideration too,why don't you just admit it Sherlock,you want to connect?'

She jogged upstairs to the shower as Sherlock roared through a mouthful of sandwhich

'I merely made the suggestion so as to not have you contaminating the crime scene when they need my assistance'

Always so sure of himself Watson noted his use of the word 'when' and not 'if'…finally she had made a breakthrough,she convinced him that it was a short time thing,his break from crime-solving

She hoped this would stop his sulking and solitary confinement…


	2. Chapter 2

'Sherlock,what type of Herbal Tea do you want?'

The inside of the one cupboard they had looke like a rainvow with all the fruity infusions.

The answer to her question came by the slamming shut of a door,which she found on coming into the living room area happened to be the front door .

She could get over the fact that he was crude sometimes with her and enjoyed patronising her in matters of crime she couldn't ignore the fact that he wouldn't trust her or confide in her.

That's what annoyed her the most,all this while she thought she was having an internal argument she noticed as she looked down a groove cutting into a hill of snow on the sidewalk,she cut by her foot.

So her rage had evolved on the outside too it seemed,never before had a client affected her so much.

She continued to look for her missing,possibly relapsing consultant.

Sherlock took note of the scene before him in fine detail like taking a risk assessment,he takes in the smaller and finite details that 'ordinary people' miss

He catches sight of Gregson with a burly man and another skinny man next to him,all suited not for a crime scene but then again they had little interest aside from receiving a big wage packet,to be at the scene.

Sherlock tried to hold his breath instead of breathing in the nasty air of corporate seemed to suck the oxygen out of the air like a stifled the excitement and enticement of a crime scene.

They move off and Gregson catches Sherlock by the fence.

He looks around and checks himself before running towards Sherlock,good old Gregson never lost his army training from his time at ' often witnessed this simple routine of Gregson's as if he was surveying the area for threat before heading into battle.

'Evening Gregson,thought Id go for a walk eneded up here isn't that extraordinary?'

Sherlock your apartment is nowhere near here?'

'I couldn't help but notice your friends over there,interesting,for a second I thought there I was questioning whether I had come upon a fashion show'

'this is the last case they want to oversee,look I told you-

'yes yes I know and Im very touched by your concern really I am Its quite sentimental..but well I was going to suggest that maybe I could privately consult,they don't have to know'

'Sherlo-

'I can just look at the files I am completely convinced as to you and the forensic teams thoroughness in such matters..I wont go near the crime scene all I need are the files'

'and if I present your findings to the HR on this case they will bombard me with questions like how and where I got my findings'

'alright I understand (pouting) its perfectly understandable I…I want to thank you for having me for so long I know it was a big risk-

'Sherlock wait'

Gregson let out a long sigh and passed Sherlock a folder through the fence.

'I could get into a lot of trouble for this'

Sherlock simply nodded with the silent promise

'I wont let that happen'

Shelock returned to the apartment to find a suitcase by the front door.


	3. Chapter 3

'Watson,Watson' he called out

Nobody answered so he leapt up the stairs

'Watson' he went for the door but it was locked

'Watson if you're in there I…I'm…sorry'

Watson sat on her bed and just stared at the wall opposite,she had searched for hours and couldn't find heard him come in three hours later and only when she heard the door handle move did she break out of her she heard Sherlock apologise for the first time since she stared working with him she stirred from the bed and opened the door.

For her this was a major event but he still hurt stood there and waited

'Watson I went out but it..it wasn't what you think…I wasn't going out to score…I saw the suitcase by the door'

He couldn't complete the plea but from the quiver of his lips she deduced the request 'don't leave'

'you have been really sulky for weeks on end and then disappear for four hours what other conclusion do you think Id jump to,do you know where Im coming from Sherlock?'

'Yes Im sorry Watson..I promise to you or at least Ill try my utmost best to never leave you out of the loop again'

With a smile back on his face he continued almost without taking a breath

'now could you please move the suitcase from the front of the door,its causing somewhat of a hazard'

She smiled a wide grin as the tension slowly stated to lift between them

'you bought that huh..Sherlock' and as she grabbed the suitcase with ease Sherlock realised that maybe he had educated Watson a little bit in the use of deception as …..the suitcase was empty all along.

Another nice little surprise greeted Watson when she walked into the living room area,Sherlock's murder board,a whiteboard on which he timelined crimes,hung crime scene photos and other general case related notes and items.

She was about to question its appearance before Sherlock ushered her into the living room and added with enthusiasm

'ah yes forgot to mention earlier Watson..we have a case'

'hmm yeah I gathered-

'yes an extremely interesting case by the sounds of it,a woman who was murdered inside her apartment where all the doors were locked and there is no evidence of a break in'

'Sherlock can I ask-

Sherlock was paying little attention to Watson at this point as he had become completely engrossed in the case.

'Sherlock did you merely apologise to me because you wanted my help with this'

'hmm ah yes I mean no not because I need your help Ive never needed anyone's help but I would like a consult and well you have been accommodating in the past'

Watson stares at Sherlock willing him at any moment to turn around and see the hurt on her face.

When he sensed a cold feeling at his back Sherlock turned around and looked Watson right in the eyes in a very disarming but for him,innocent way.

'Watson you should know you are very important to me and I suppose in many ways in the term given by social context,a friend'

Watson turned away at his and pretended to busy herself making some tea while blushing all the while and laughing quietly to herself when she heard

'milk and a spoonful of honey please'

Sherlocks wounds had finally healed,the herbal teabags went to the back of the cupboard again.


	4. Chapter 4

The files were strewn on the floor like petals that fell from a flower

'Sherlock have you been up all night?' Watson asked as Sherlock sat cross-legged on the floor bent in deep thought over the files.

'pah,sleep is for hibernating animals Watson,I have already been very constructive this morning,rewiring my engine rotor for a previous concern,finished my smoke detector which by the way now detects several types of potentially harmful gases and oh yes I developed reasonable theories on this new case'

Watson gave him her questioning glare before she bounded up the stairs

'all this of course while you were wasting your brains useful resources on dreaming of a the man who called here earlier I presume'

Like a mother going to protect her offspring Watson raced down the stairs and stood in front of Sherlock half changed from her pyjamas.

'what time did he call at?'

'at an unreasonable time I suppose according to social norms'

'by your reaction I assume you are disappointed you missed him,you were expecting him no doubt?'

Absentmindedly 'yes Sherlock he said he might be down here on some work related business….'

'I mean we are not…he's an old friend'

Sherlock fixed Watson with a stare outside of normal standards,it had an loosening effect on her almost like he had shot her with truth serum.

'never mind Sherlock did he leave any address,a number…?'

'by the phone'

'oh and you should probably tell him to use gloves when handling luminal,could be quite dangerous later on,the colouring on his hands after years of absorbing the stuff is already starting to show'

Sherlock made a sound close to a laugh and added

'quite intriguing how a surgeon and a pathologist establish a relationship,it must have been an extraordinary meeting'

As he looked up all he saw was Watson's coat leaving through the front door behind her.

Her quick exit clarified for Sherlock the importance of such a man to had forgotten the daily routine of drug check and to finish momentary excitement followed almost immediately by anxiety led Sherlock to believe the separation was of her doing and the guilt that comes with such a appearance suggests her impact on him never educed and thus the hope of a reconciliation possibly?

Gregson would have to do as Sherlock's confidante for today.

Sherlock always approached Gregson's office like a boy awaiting his first glance at Father's study room while to Gregson it appeared as if Sherlock was waiting to see the principal.

'morning Captain Gregson'

'Sherlock what are you doing here you're not supposed to be here remember I still have two days with these agents and I don't need the extra questions believe me'

'oh I wouldn't worry about them arriving here anytime soon,I have a few friends around that delayed their limo for a while'

'what friends,what have you done Sherlock?'

'don't mention it,now as for the matter of the mysterious murder well I have gathered a few theories on that,impressive job I must say but to the trained eye quite noticeable in these crime scene photos'

'see in this one,the blood stain by the far right wall near the floorboard'

'we had forensics confirm it was the victims blood Sherlock what of it?'

'and you assumed it was what? A blood spatter perhaps'

'more likely that the body was moved actually from the wall to the middle of the room where he placed it in that position'

'what would be the point in that,there is no significance to the position of the body how she lays is how she was killed,no Captain the detail is in the wallpaper,the wall has been redone but when the victim tried to find the original wallpaper it had clearly gone out of circulation and why wouldn't it a horrible shade…

'Sherlock if you are suggesting that the victim had her wall done please remember there are no balconies and there never was an entrance way to that apartment behind that wall-

'yes but the wall has been done for some reason or other did the autopsy reveal anything interesting?'

Now that you mention the wall,there was plaster dust found in her hair and traces of it on her face'

'ah so I seem to be right…I think its about time to question the plasterer or whoever carried out the job on the wall'

Gregson looked at Sherlock expectantly..Sherlock finally heard what Gregson was silently saying

'well I had better be off then,please keep m-

'of course Sherlock I wouldn't keep you out of this,especially when you may just have found us a suspect'


	5. Chapter 5

'Mr Calloway you were reapplying the wallpaper on Miss Donovans apartment is that correct?'

Gregson found himself on the lower side of Manhattan questioning Mr Calloway as he was on another job and couldn't put it off to come down to the felt a little uncomfortable in informal interviews,he held no power in the situation.

'yeah I did her wall,although how I could concentrate with all the noise outside the window is beyond me,nearly dropped my tool twice'

Gregson caught the last part like a predator catching prey

'im sorry the noise outside,there are no windows in that apartment'

'yeah I know I mean at the time there was some work being done on the building on the other side of the wall I was plastering,kinda got the feeling she blamed the builders outside for her wall'

'thank you Mr Calloway,if I have any other questions in the meantime I will call you'

Meanwhile an external error occurred in Sherlock's mind palace…the error being Watson was invading and interrupted his thought processes.

She looks weary and serious Sherlock considers her situation needing his attention…he closes his mind palace and watches her

She slumps into a chair defeated…her hunched shoulders a sign that her unfinished business was finally complete.

'so it went well then..your meeting with the pathologist?'

'mmm…he's going back to Washington tomorrow so we had a catch up'

Sherlock waited for the rest

'ok we had a complicated but almost symbiotic relationship at one stage..with such similar careers we mixed quite well'

'but your change of career irked him and he didn't agree with it?'

No actually for once it wasn't my change of jobs that lost me a friend it was my period of depression following the accident at the hospital…I lost myself for a while and well he just pushed and pushed he was only trying to help but I had to make a new start and he was a memory of bad times so I broke up with him…'

Sherlock noted how he had been right earlier but as he looked into Watson's face he felt an explosion of guilt and empathy for his had of course been through a similar experience with 'the woman' but by now he had come to recognise not one woman his equal in all matters but two,Watson was gaining more and more in his respect and accepatance every day.

So he decided to be kind in that moment

'its hard when you have to sever ties with someone you consider to be in danger from yourself,and when given certain situations it is impossible for either if you to form any type of relationship with the other'

'Sherlock…are you talking about…Irene?'

Sherlock merely nodded while looking at the floor to this question when his phone rang the song playing being the theme to Magnum P.I.

'Gregson,you interviewed the plasterer I presume'

'yes,listen Sherlock apparently there was construction work going on at the time the wallpaper was being put up,Mr Donovan remembered scaffolding outside when he was going up to the apartment'

suddenly Sherlock's neurons fired as electrical impulses shot to his brain

'of course..why didn't I see that before..the plaster dust in her hair want from just the wallpaper work…it was from the wall,a section of the wall was removed so they could kill her and make it look like there was no entry'

'are you saying they took out a piece of the wall,killed our vic and then replaced the missing piece?'

'Gregson,Mr Donovan the plasterer,he wasn't doing the work on her wallpaper before the murder he was doing it afterwards..he's involved'

'ill get a bolo out on him,he probably ran soon after I talked to him'

'that's an excellent idea Captain,is there any way of identifying the builders at the time of construction?'

'from the neighbours reports there were two men and the scaffolding was only there for about a week,they made sure not to be noticed,they were suited up in gas masks and hard hats each day..it seems they only targeted Miss Donovans apartment'

There was a bit of talking on Gregson's side then

'were checking in with every recognised building society to see if they were ever employed officially but Im thinking its off the grid'

'keep me informed'

Watson was intrigued throughout this conversation before turning to him and asking

'the case is going well?'

'the case is extremely exciting,the murderer being quite intuitive,I cant wait to meet him truly'

Watson eyeballed the ceiling at this


	6. Chapter 6

'why would they go to all that trouble to kill someone?'

'hmm good question Watson and one which I have this past hour trying to answer and pose some clarification to'

Sherlock was surrounded by documents and photos and records of the victim and the possible suspects.

Noticing and almost sensing Watson's edginess.

'have any plans for tonight Watson?'

'ah Sherlock you made a personal observation,what about you?'

'what could be more occupying than this work I am invested in? my mind is fully submerged and activated'

Watson looked at Sherlock unable to believe he could think this could define having a social life.

Interrupting Sherlock's train of thought and his long winded speech which Watson had zoned out of long before he had finished.

He watched his phone for a few minutes as if the phone would apologise for rudely interrupting him.

'hey Sherlock its Gregson,we found Calloway he's being brought in now,he hired a boat and was on his way downstream before we traced him'

'I will be there in a half hour if-

The question remained unspoken as Sherlock's plea was evident in the tome he took.

'Sherlock Im sorry but we have to conduct this interview alone,you understand don't you'

The pause seemed to last hours.

'but I will send a transcript of the interview as soon as we are done'

'thank you Captain I look forward to it'

Sherlock had already found another occupation to keep him busy and help the case of their Mr Calloway not giving any names as to his accomplices Sherlcok noticed something about the way the builders cemented the like a surgeon had its own way of suturing builders have their own method of marking their work.A footprint that would be their trap so as to speak.

'Watson,when you were a professional and priviledged surgeon you had your very unique way of treating you patients?'

'yes well I suppose my way of threading and knotting a the end of an operation was unique'

'and what do you make of the wall here in this picture?'

Sherlock stared intensely at Watson waiting for her answer,he was like a teacher lightly prodding a student to get the best of his knowledge to come to the surface and manifest itself.

her eyes lightened and her brow furrowed in concentration as much as she didn't like being put on the spot she tried to impress him when it did occur.

'there is a pattern to the swirl of the brush here as if he was trying to design the plaster in an…artistic way'

'very good Watson I am..

'Sherlock I am quite observant you just like stealing the limelight all the time'

Sherlock was taken aback by this comment until he glanced at her and noticed her smiling,actually was joking and she had caught him off guard.

'well Watson what to do with this information except compare it to some other situation,a similar occurrence for instance when refurbishments were being done to a Miss Dalton's house'

Sherlock handed Watson the article

'only Miss Dalton wasn't as happy with her refurbishments apparently she was taken in by a cowboy builder who left the job before he had finished so she reported everything,left nothing to be concealed to the local newspaper,including series of pictures of the wall'

In the pictures it was black and white and grainy but Watson could still make out the similar swirls of the plaster brush as she squinted at it closely.

'perhaps our victim had the very same reservations about the mystery builder and voiced it'

'yes but going on this the work was so shoddy that I doubt the capability of these builders to kill a woman and then put a wall back up'

'that is a good question Watson and backing up what Captain Gregson will send me in those transcripts,this casefile on Mr Calloway shows he was an experienced plasterer with a very prominent clientele'

'so what you are saying is that he used the builders to lead the police astray?so they are innocent in this and Mr Calloway was simply trying to get our victim back?'

'Watson you astound me when did you become teacher and I become student?'

They both waited patiently for the phonecall that would clarify everything and seal the fate of one man and one perpetrator alone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you everyone who kept with this story I really adore this show and the characters themselves as created by the brilliant Arthur Conan….all I can say is your reviews brighten my day and if this story was enjoyable then I shall do more…**

Sherlock's intuition and incredible detection abilities including eagle-like eyesight paid off in this Watson once quoted in her diary she likened him to a 'fine wine that kept developing new flavours and developing its uniqueness but too much and it would taste bitter to the pallet'

Even Gregson's patience for Sherlock grew wary particularly in this case as he had almost solved it completely via phtographs and not having any direct observation of the scene himself.

While in the interrogation of Mr Calloway the plasterer broke down,he played the act well until Gregson ended it with his monologue armed with some convincing evidence Sherlock found that link that they had been looking for and in answer to the question which Watson had proposed earlier.

He nearly scared the heart out of her when he uncharacteristically jumped up with a very loud 'finally I've got you'

Gregson remained interested yet stoic as Sherlock explained his reasoning behind a new sensed Gregson felt his position of duty being threatened added to the fact that once again he had to ask for Sherlock's help.

Sherlock didn't alleviate the situation when he added;

'even without my direct inclusion in these cases I still manage to solve them'

Gregson's witty reply to this was

'you want to do the honours of interrogating him with this 'invaluable' information?'

Knowing it would simply frighten Sherlock,he barely interacted socially with the little circle of people he knew,adding to that the possibility of confronting another person he stepped back from Gregson and proudly passed over the interrogating duties to the more competent man.

The man that Gregson returned to was as silent as a spy and unwilling to speak at all until Gregson used his skills.

Mr Calloway had been a professional plasterer it seems,hired by all the best in the city and had an impressive wage packet each week a court case at which Miss Donovan was the literally lost all his fame and fortune and it came about that his work wasn't all that special to begin with.

Along with Miss Dalton there were several other homeowners who found his work dissatisfying and left was his need to distinguish himself inflate his ego,the unique brush pattern that let him down,that and the fact that the reputable company to which he was contracted to severed all ties to him and were only too happy to let Sherlock have his file.

As for the builders they were simple odd numbers in an unlucky dice roll.

He made good use of their scaffolding but his shoddy work in plastering the wall back to the original state left him down even show a fine list of tools Calloway had bought in preparation for cutting a hole into the wall all done it seems in those hours when no one was that a naval officer would be a reliable neighbour anyway taking into account that he was never there.

It seemed they were doing actual work on the outside of the building coating the brick with weather resistant pain,it happened to be the perfect opportunity for Calloway to carry out his passionate revenge.

There was one more question however that still confused Gregson though it irritated him to ask.

'when I questioned Calloway straight away he talked about doing work for Miss Donovan but now we know he wasn't working on her wall?'

That was your first mistake Gregson Im afraid if I remember rightly you asked whether he was the plasterer working on Miss Donovans wall to which he concocted a story on the basis that he was indeed working in her apartment'

As Sherlock walked to the exit Gregson bore a hole through his head with his enraged eyes.

'even though he was being brutally literal,he really looks up to you'

That was the first time Gregson could recall Watson speaking directly to him

And Watson followed in the footsteps of her companion,watched by a smiling and grateful Captain.


End file.
